Inside Story

What should we expect from the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki?

Accusations of election tampering, the war in Syria, Ukraine and arms control are some of the issues at stake.

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are expected to hold their first one-on-one meeting in Finland’s capital, Helsinki, on Monday.

But the two leaders will hold some of those meetings without their aides – and that’s worrying diplomats.

Trump has been under pressure to cancel the summit altogether.

That’s after the US justice department charged 12 Russians with hacking the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton, its presidential candidate, during the 2016 election campaign.

Trump has promised to confront Putin on the issue and other issues.

So, will the two leaders reach a common ground?

 

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests:

Thomas Pickering – former US ambassador to Russia

Thorsten Benner – director of the Global Public Policy Institute

Pavel Felgenhaeur – columnist at Novaya Gazeta